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Podcast: The Politics Of The Pussy Riot Verdict

Six months after their controversial performance at Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral, three members of the feminist punk-rock collective Pussy Riot -- Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova -- received two-year prison sentences.

The verdict and sentence came just after the 100-day mark of President Vladimir Putin's third term in the Kremlin and highlights the fact that the Kremlin leader is in no mood to tolerate dissent, despite mounting discontent in society. A new poll, meanwhile, shows Putin's approval rating falling to the lowest level of his presidency.

In this edition of the Power Vertical Podcast, I discussed the Pussy Riot verdict and its political implications with my regular co-host, Kirill Kobrin, managing editor of RFE/RL's Russian Service.

What we have is an international war against tyranny and greed. Make no mistake the Republican party of the USA fights for greed and will use tyranny to get its way. The CIA sticks with the Republican agenda no matter who the president is.

In Response

by: Regular Joe from: USA

August 21, 2012 18:40

Nice, pertinent comment, Patrick. Why don't you go occupy a park or something, where you can stand on a box and demand your "fair" share of someone else's productivity: your subsidized (and I'm sure years and years) college education, your subsidized housing, your subsidized health care. Grow up Patrick! Oh, but that would mean getting a job and supporting yourself. Well, maybe Jack and Sergio's employer can hire you to post here? You seem to fit right in.

In Response

by: Even More Regular Joe from: Eugene

August 26, 2012 04:54

Nice job, Regular Joe. The only thing you can think of to say is "you're stealing my money! My hard earned money! Which is mine, mine, mine!" -- even though Patrick above said nothing about it.

By all means, enjoy your well-deserved productivity. And the roads and bridges that you built with your own hands. And the schools, public libraries, and hospitals which you built, each one of them, with your own bare, unaided hands. And the army -- which I'm sure you support -- whose members, after all, you have trained and armed yourself, without any help from anyone.

Yes, you're really a big success, and nobody ever helped you (excpet, perhaps, God, but that doesn't count--you still get to claim it was all you, right?). I hope you enjoy it.

Bye, and thanks for all the fish.

In Response

by: Eugenio from: Vienna

August 20, 2012 05:41

I mean, Anonymous, the RFE/RL is getting paid for promoting certain very specific agendas and that's the only reason why they "fight" for such things as these three excessively talanted ladies (who in their turn must have gotten paid from the US embassy or related structures to carry out their "attack" against the "bloody Putin's regime").And of course, you will never hear these RFE/RL individuals defend Julian Assange: even if they wanted to do so, they would be fired by their bosses from the Capitol Hill and by their generous funders from Saudi Arabia the next day they published even a short note in his defense, you can be damn sure.

In Response

by: john from: canada

August 21, 2012 13:15

Since you compare Assange issue to Pussy Riot issue, at 8:34 minute time in his Ecuador Embassy balcony speech, Assange aligns himself with Pussy Riot, by saying "...on Friday, a Russian band was sentenced to two years in jail for a political performance...":

Assange speech: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nqv1DSTVv4

FREE PUSSY RIOT!

In Response

by: rick

August 21, 2012 19:45

i am not interested on Assange as person

he can also speak that he is "god"

for me is important what he represent in this moment .

by: Vakhtang from: Moscow

August 21, 2012 03:40

I think the scheme (church-the administration of President-Department of Investigation) of Mr.Kobrin is wrong

The main initiator of girls's prosecution was Putin...either he personally called or ordered his trustees...Gundyaev nothing to do with it.Then followed the order-find girls and to initiate criminal proceedings..more precisely, to make an administrative violation in a criminal case..This was a task of prosecutorsAll judicial proceedings conducted by Mrs. Yegorovа-Chairman of the Moscow City Court,-her husband was an FSB general аs it is known and FSB via her provides guidance how to try and what prison term to give to people who do not like Putin ..then Egorova instructs district judges such as Syrova and other..

In Response

by: rik

August 21, 2012 12:54

well a Moscovite . . .

I would like to know if in Russia as it is in Italyexist "the obligation of prosecution" for the judicial systemwhen there is an "offense NOTICE"

In Italy we speak about "obbligo dell'azione penale" simply translate in "obligation for criminal prosecution" .

in other waywe can stay here and talk about many things, doing pure "detrologia" about "how" and "why" arrived this judgment

BUT

we can be sure for one thing "that the offense has really happened"

best

were the guilty to provide us an inescapable evidence of the crime scenefilming it and were the guilty the perpetrators on media of this inescapable evidence

SO

if crime exist , and it is well known

no doubt that judical system must work !

THEN

we can speak about the measure of punishment

probably exaggerated

and nothing more ,not about their guilty , not about "who" or "why" want this judgment

In Response

by: Vakhtang from: Moscow

August 22, 2012 06:06

Hey rik! Enough to roil water---------------------------"...if crime exist , and it is well knownno doubt that judical system must work !..."----------------------rikFirst, they did not commit any crime..No articles in the Russian Criminal Code that can be applied to them.

What did Pussy Riot is called an administrative offense-it is punishable by a fine or community service..And that it was clear for you-the situation with the law in Russia ..I report:Criminal Procedure Code and Criminal Code of the Russian Federation signed by Mr. Putin-completely ignored by Russian judges.Most Russian judges -are former cops and prosecutors,in other words, criminals and maniacs.So, it is better for you to make money in Italy, but not in Russia because in Russia, you can be arrested and punished for crooked nose for example (When I was in prison, I saw such cases, and not only-))))....Girls convicted illegally and there is nothing here to argue....

About This Blog

The Power Vertical is a blog written especially for Russia wonks and obsessive Kremlin watchers by Brian Whitmore. It covers emerging and developing trends in Russian politics, shining a spotlight on the high-stakes power struggles, machinations, and clashing interests that shape Kremlin policy today. Check out The Power VerticalFacebookpage or Follow @PowerVertical